A Guide To Ad Blockers

Each time you get on the Internet you immediately lose privacy. Luckily, all web browsers allow a number of different ad blocker extensions that have been created to help with this problem. An ad blocker is a software that, as its name implies, prevents advertisements and third-party scripts and widgets from popping up on a page. Ad blockers are to protect privacy, protect your computer from malware, save bandwidth and provide a better user experience, which is why they have become more widely used. Among the tons of ad blockers being used, there are some that stand out more than other. There are two ad blockers that people rely on and those are Adblock Plus and uBlock Origin. Below I will explain both of the ad blockers and what, specifically, they do.

Adblock Plus is a free extension you can download on Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari. It blocks pop-up ads, banner ads, and other ads and stops Internet users from visiting malware-laden sites.

What people find most appealing about Adblock Plus is the fact that it does more than just block things. It cleans up the Facebook ads that we are all so used to and it helps save battery life by using Adobe Flash only when needed.

 

uBlock Origin is also a free extension but only works on Google Chrome and Firefox. It blocks ads and tracking which ultimately helps decrease the use of your Central Processing Unit (CPU) AND memory. Unlike Adblock Plus, uBlock Origin is much less ‘memory-heavy’ and you have the ability to choose which ads and sites you want to block. Likewise, you can choose from a user generated list of sites to block.

While most people might prefer Adblock, that is mostly because of how easy it is to use. uBlock might seem confusing to some people but it provides an overall more customized way to block ads and third-party networks.

 

 

Allie Arcidiacono
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